I ended up taking Devil Drill Beam for my free mana shape. It was the OG, the very first shape I’d ever learned, and couldn’t be replicated through the codified shapes on our list without using at least two of them. So, it was a two-for-one.
DDB turned any ‘touch’ skill into a thirty-foot beam that went straight through all obstacles. Oblivion Orb was my only touch skill, making t...
2025-03-23 15:37:30 +0000 UTC View Posta/n: No matter what I try, Patreon strips my formatting when I copy+paste. I already struggled mightily with getting this chapter edited due to an inordinate number of interruptions and have something I have to take care of, so rather than delaying pubbing yet again (since it takes me like half an hour to hunt for all my italics and shit) I'm just putting it out. The attached PDF and epub shoul...
2025-03-21 18:23:27 +0000 UTC View Post***
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY: USER NAME [Ruler 4]
ADDENDUM NOTE: There was a comment here. It’s gone now.
***
Her Royal Highness Princess Ishi of the Silver Lounge was having an intriguing sort of day. She’d had the privilege of overseeing the evaluations of new Dimensional applicants to the c...
2025-03-18 19:25:34 +0000 UTC View PostThe body of Nuralie’s new Mecha was formed from a set of Zng armor. The dark color naturally lent itself to stealth work in dim environments, and Nuralie had augmented it with a variety of deep forest hues. She could make the coloring adaptive once she got her hands on the appropriate essence.
For the internal components, she used a combination of hardware to scrape together a chassis, ...
2025-03-17 17:04:19 +0000 UTC View PostAs with many of Nuralie’s problems, the solution involved math.
Before deciding on the best delivery system for her toxins, Nuralie first needed to make sure she could actually kill the Domininth. A quarter million health was quite a lot, and it was slowly ticking ever higher with each hour that passed. Nuralie wasn’t one to rush, however, so she focused on the problem with the same p...
2025-03-17 00:16:07 +0000 UTC View PostThe Asimanth were taking their prey to some kind of… thing.
Nuralie didn’t have a good frame of reference for it. This problem was compounded by her inability to get close to the ‘thing’.
Nuralie had started experiencing the same spiritual divergence that the rest of the forest was undergoing once she got within a mile of the distant mass of gleaming silver and bone. Her div...
2025-03-15 03:24:31 +0000 UTC View PostEach piece of jewelry Hep had passed to Varrin was simple, but their effects vastly outstripped their requirements. These were a different sort of treasure, precious for how easily they could be worn.
Blackthorn Ring of the Dark
Requirements: INT 10, LCK 10, Reconnaissance
+20 Mystical DR
+20 Divine DR 2025-03-13 07:04:24 +0000 UTC View Post
The pair clashed through the air and sent new plumes of ash reaching for the sky when they landed. Varrin recovered quickly, standing to meet Hep, but found another bolt of lightning instead. It bucked Varrin’s chest like a ten-thousand pound horse, sending the man skipping back across the terrain, followed by orbs of flame that detonated all around him. When Varrin recovered, he realized tha...
2025-03-10 20:20:26 +0000 UTC View PostYour Physical Magic skill has increased to Level 29!
Varrin hadn’t used any skills during Hep’s ‘introduction’ but Bleeding was based in the Physical school, and he had many bonuses to that. The Dungeon was generous with its skillups, it seemed.
Varrin dismissed the notification and toggled them off. He didn’t want even a small glimmer in the corner of his...
2025-03-10 14:29:55 +0000 UTC View Post***
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY: USER NAME [Ruler 2]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Despite receiving multiple warnings that this is an inappropriate use of the System Addendum feature, Ruler 3 has requested that a complaint be logged concerning Ruler 2’s testing of the Physical petitioner. This request has been denied. Ruler 2 has requested the addition of ...
2025-03-09 05:05:20 +0000 UTC View PostHey folks!
I haven't perished or slipped into a coma, I've just been a zombie for a few days.
Our peak after the book 1 launch ended up being 622, which is pretty fucking great, and I cannot believe how well everything went. I was also really pleased with how the audiobook turned out and that it's also doing so well. It was a lot of fun hearing how Daniel Wisniewski interpreted the ...
2025-03-08 13:25:45 +0000 UTC View PostAfter two stone-shattering bounces, I managed to control my trajectory with Gracorvus, using its flight ability to bleed momentum as rapidly as I could. I’d lost about a third of the speed while using my entire body as an emergency brake, so a few seconds of deceleration with the shield let me hit the ground running and come to a stop on my own.
I glanced at my health. I’d taken about...
2025-03-04 23:43:27 +0000 UTC View PostMy first move was to get more information about the space I’d somehow gotten stuck in. I hadn’t been teleported, since my Extradimensional Entity subrace would have tried to stop it. I should have at least gotten a notification. Given that this was a Dimensional Dungeon, it was possible that we’d walked into it. Everyone else had probably been teleported away from me, rather than...
2025-03-04 17:45:04 +0000 UTC View PostPatrons, friends, colleagues, co-conspirators, the day is upon us.
The dark rituals are complete. The blood gods have been appeased. My tentacles ache from the ceaseless keyboard hammering.
>>AMAZON/KINDLE LINK OF BEARDED MAGNIFICE...
2025-03-04 14:23:00 +0000 UTC View PostI'll have another post tomorrow, with links and stuff, but I wanted to let you all know that I've got some bonuses lined up for launch day.
If you've been on the Royal Road page recently you may have seen these. Patreon will also share in these rewards, so if you saw that list already don’t worry, you folks aren’t going to get left out.
Here’s that list: (Based...
2025-03-04 02:07:25 +0000 UTC View Post“Etja’s Spiritual and Mystical defenses are probably better than mine now,” I shouted up at Varrin. We were blasting through the frigid winter wonderland once more. I was wearing thicker socks this time, but my toes were still going numb.
Varrin grunted in response. I was only able to hear him because Wisdom gave a big bump to my senses. It was an inquisitive sort of grunt. I interp...
2025-03-03 20:41:06 +0000 UTC View PostThe week passed without incident. My idea for a smithy wasn’t anything new, and I’d commissioned the materials months beforehand. It was a quick jaunt over to Eschangal to pick all of it up and stuff it into the Closet via my inventory screen. By the time I was done, everyone at the workshop had stopped their projects to stare at me while I lifted thousands of pounds of metal one piece at a...
2025-03-03 07:47:09 +0000 UTC View Post[The rifle’s spell is curious. It is designed to maximize mana efficiency and penetration with the trade-off of doing very little actual damage.]
Vaulty stepped forward, the hulking golem’s legs clanking against the ground.
“The spell is called Break,” said the golem. “It bypasses most defenses and deals a small amount of Spatial dama...
2025-03-03 01:04:58 +0000 UTC View PostHey there!
We finally have a beta release for the TTRPG system. This system was primarily developed by Sir Raiu Koren while I ran support. It's the inverse of how we work on the books, so it's some proper symbiosis we've got going on here.
Attached to this post you should find 5 things:
1) The Delver System Core Rulebook v0.1, which contains the game's primary mechanics for bo...
2025-03-01 01:57:32 +0000 UTC View PostMT 241 - Liquor and Stolen Goods
Hysteria’s manipulations of Joma’s soul would encourage her sense of injustice, her outrage at inequity. There was a simmering disgust at organized religion that had been set to boil over, alongside a powerful thread of anarchist rage at the abuse of power structures.
However, what stood out most was that there was one set of relationships...
2025-02-26 18:34:39 +0000 UTC View PostHowdy everyone!
We’ve got ONE WEEK until book 1 launches on Amazon/Kindle/Audible!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGW4XTDH
Everybody here has already done a ton to support the work and we would never have made it to this point without you. You have our deepest gratitude for being here.
Fo...
2025-02-25 20:43:27 +0000 UTC View PostMT 240 - Prison Princess
Joma recovered from Nottagator’s tail whip by landing feet-first against the wall and springing back towards the creature. The Atrocidile juked to one side, but Joma twisted and her trajectory changed in mid-air. Nottagator’s head appeared to multiply as Joma approached, and as she fired off several rapid punches, the heads collapsed back into a single ...
2025-02-25 07:50:54 +0000 UTC View PostMT 239 - Godslayer
I’d begun to brush up against the Revelation of the Eye’s Embrace during my wrangling of the Hysteria fragment. Xim had told me years ago that Embrace would allow me to pull people into a world of my own creation, but my recent insights led me to believe that was a flawed interpretation. Pulling people into a personal world was more or less what Xim’s dream...
2025-02-24 15:52:46 +0000 UTC View PostMT 238 - Mind Control Builds Your Character (sheet)
Xim and I spent three weeks in the Third Layer, hanging with her folks, participating in revels with the village, and having some heart-to-hearts over our shared experiences. The soul damage left by Hysteria faded throughout, and our moods continually improved with every hour that passed.
My own damage was greater since I’d...
2025-02-20 14:40:30 +0000 UTC View Post*****
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [Supreme General Diathemon Tyrianaeonis]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Imperative #2 - The System shall ensure its own survival.
*****
Diathemon went still, reviewing their shared sessions in his mind. “You have drained Hysteria of much mana. I have seen you extract at least one voi...
2025-02-17 16:00:14 +0000 UTC View Post*****
SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [Supreme General Diathemon Tyrianaeonis]
ADDENDUM NOTE: Imperative #1 - The System shall enable Delvers to ascend through the best means available.
*****
General Diathemon looked over the expansive field where a legion of his soldiers ran mobility drills. The Elder Lich...
2025-02-17 14:38:31 +0000 UTC View PostMT 235 - Soul Carving
I felt cold water on my face and realized that Nuralie had thrown something at me. I opened my eyes and glanced at her, then down at the rag she’d tossed. It smelled like spice and peppermint. I took a deep breath of the aroma, feeling my mind clear and realizing I’d almost fallen for a trap.
The fragment was chagrined, and we laughed it off. Then I ...
2025-02-14 23:28:16 +0000 UTC View PostMT 234 - Dreamscape Ritual
Xim rarely got to dive deeply into theological matters with the full party. She and Nuralie had frequent discussions on the topic, and Etja got involved from time to time, but Varrin and I lacked the depth of knowledge they had and weren’t generally looking to attend any sermons.
Not to say that Xim was preachy–far from it–and the follow...
2025-02-10 12:00:14 +0000 UTC View PostMT 233 - Gatekeeping
After accepting the Heavenly Gates evolution, the world went black.
Not entirely unexpected.
I felt a tugging in my chest, like someone had applied a local anesthetic and was opening me up. A presence washed over me, a shadow seen through closed eyes. A jolt of static pulsed through my veins as a connection was made. Minutes passed while I felt thes...
2025-02-09 14:53:05 +0000 UTC View PostHello there,
So it turns out my hands being really sensitive to strain and injury wasn't totally from holding my phone weird and typing a lot, but also because it was a forerunner for a flare up of an inflammatory disorder I have. I have meds to manage it, and flare ups are usually minor but this one is coming at me like I left its daughter at the altar or something, I dunno.
Start...
2025-02-06 12:48:54 +0000 UTC View Post